The first thing the 16-year-old girl's alleged pimps did after intimidating her into becoming a prostitute was order her to take off her top.

The alleged pimps, who were charged this week with running an underage prostitution ring, had her picture taken and posted to the online classified advertising site Backpage.com, according to police.

Then they sat back at their headquarters at 245 N. Main St., Pittston, and waited for the johns to pounce.

While online advertising for prostitution services is far from new, the victimization of three women in Pittston underscored the proliferation of online prostitution advertising, even after the popular classified site Craigslist closed its controversial adult services section three years ago.

Luzerne County Detective Chaz Balogh said Friday that prostitution migrated off the streets and onto the Internet as those involved sought to avoid detection.

"They're trying to be as discreet as possible," Balogh said. "It's a major problem everywhere."

A check of the Backpage.com's "adult entertainment" classifieds Friday afternoon revealed nearly 300 ads had been posted for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area since the beginning of the month.

Many of the posts feature scantily clad young women with their faces obscured and sexually suggestive language. Subtle they are not.

An ad for one of the women offers the promise of a 100 percent "CLEAN DISCREET DRAMA DRUG FREE" workplace to customers.

"I will indulge U in a relaxing setting n satisfy Ur every desire!," she promises. "Guaranteed %100 satisfaction n U will always leave with a smile on ur face!"

While the ads posted to such sites often overtly offer illegal services, attempts to shut them down have failed.

In March 2009, Sheriff Thomas Dart of Cook County, Ill., sued Craigslist alleging its "erotic services" section was a "public nuisance" that enabled prostitution.

Craigslist argued it was immune from a lawsuit under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois agreed, dismissing the suit in October 2009.

Attorneys general from 17 districts wrote an open letter to Craigslist in August 2010 imploring the site to remove the category, which had been renamed "adult services," because it was rife with prostitution, including ads for child prostitutes.

Craigslist permanently closed the section the next month. But there has been no shortage of alternatives.

The Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based Advanced Interactive Media Group, a media consulting firm, tracks online prostitution advertising and says that for the first time in May, the 12-month revenue from five websites it tracks surpassed the $44.6 million per year Craigslist was generating from selling escort and body rub ads, which it categorizes as "prostitution advertising."

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"There have been some new sites that have entered the market since Craigslist stopped publishing them," said Mark A. Whittaker, senior consultant for the AIM Group.

Backpage.com, however, remains the dominant force, he said. An AIM Group report published in July shows Backpage had nearly 70,000 listings for back rubs and escort services in May, generating $4.5 million in revenue that month alone.

Dr. Bill J. Lutes, chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology at King's College, said it makes sense for the industry to shift gears. While prostitutes and johns still risk their safety and the possibility of being snared in sting operations, advertising online allows them to keep a lower profile than working on the streets.

"Standing on the street corner is a risky way to engage in prostitution," Lutes said. "It's just another step forward in advertising for such services."

The business can be lucrative. In the Pittston case, the girls were told they could make up to $1,000 a night for selling their bodies for $100 per half-hour to $150 or $200 per hour, according to a police affidavit.

But the 16-year-old victim learned after showing up with an 18-year-old girl to her first "call" that they wouldn't be keeping all that money, police said.

After disrobing and allowing a trucker to rub against them, they took the $300 fee back to their pimps, who handed them back $50 each - splitting the rest as their fee for being "bodyguards," according to police.

Police on Thursday arrested two brothers, Anthony Lamont "D-Lo" Boone, 30; and Gregory "C-Lo" Boone, 29, both of Pittston, on three counts of promoting the prostitution of a minor and one count each of conspiring to promote the prostitution of a minor, criminal use of a communication facility, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors. Police arrested an alleged accomplice, Jose "P" Alvelo, 19, of Nanticoke, on similar charges Friday. Another alleged accomplice, Randy "Holliday" Coleman, no age given, of Pittston, remains wanted.

jhalpin@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2058, @cvjimhalpin

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